“Caregiver” is the gender-neutral version meaning an individual who generally feels comfortable with expectations of adulthood, has the desire to "take care of" their romantic partner(s) more than typically expected, and often presents as naturally parental by personality regardless of age or experience as a parent.
“Mommy” is the common female-gendered version, and “Daddy” is the common male-gendered version. Mommies and Daddies are Caregivers and do the same thing. Any gendered or nongendered individual may be a Caregiver.
“Platonic” is not what a healthy CGL partnership is about. I know it may be enticing to take someone up on an offer that means more attention and affection for you but this isn’t how things are supposed to go, okay?
Think of it like this: Eating a bag full of candy might sound fun, and may be very yummy during it, but after you’ll get a very unhappy tummy ache because your tummy shouldn’t be full of so much sugar. The taste goes away so fast but that tummy ache sure doesn’t. Does that mean you should ignore the consequences (tummy ache, nutrient deficiencies) and just gorge on all of the sweets all of the time just because they taste good? It’s just not right, is it? Why suffer from a long tummy ache for no good reason?!
We do not believe in or support “platonic” CGL, as caregiving is a deeply emotional exchange and benefiting from feeling loved and prioritized but not actually being loved and prioritized does not make any sense whatsoever. You’re literally asking another person to pretend to be in love with you. That just doesn’t sound right, does it? Pretending to be in love.
You’re asking that they be emotional FWB, which negates all potential benefits of having a FWB. That does not make sense. That is just not emotionally or psychologically healthy for either side. It might sound good, just like a big bag of your favorite candies, but over time it’s very unhealthy to continue doing. So, you really ought not do it in the first place!
RP relationships are harmful to the community. Using other people so that you feel special is harmful to the community. Encouraging this mentality only encourages “fake” persons in the community to use, abuse, and ghost at best. Ghosts are scary, uh huh?
In case you didn’t know, relationships don’t have to include sex. You can have a nonsexual relationship, where you both are in love with one another but don’t engage sexually! This isn’t what we call “platonic” though. It’s just nonsexual, but still a true relationship.
Best of luck in your research.
You may also want to see:
Do platonic Caregiver friends exist that will take care of me so that I can be little?
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